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John Glover Roberts, Jr. (born January 27, 1955) is an American attorney, jurist, and political figure. He is a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, and if confirmed by the United States Senate, will become an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

On July 19, 2005, Roberts was nominated by President George W. Bush to replace Sandra Day O'Connor, who retired on July 1—pending the confirmation of a successor—as an Associate Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.

Roberts is 50 years old, lives in Bethesda, Maryland, and is the first Supreme Court nominee since Stephen Breyer in 1994. He is a practicing Catholic. He has three sisters, and is the second oldest of his siblings. He and his wife, Jane Sullivan Roberts, have two children, Jack and Josie.

Life and career

Roberts was born in Buffalo, New York. Roberts's family moved to Indiana when Roberts was in second grade. He graduated summa cum laude from Tulane University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1976 and received his law degree magna cum laude from University of Michigan Law School (where he was managing editor of the Law Review) in 1979.

After graduation, Roberts became a law clerk for Henry Friendly on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, and held this post until the following year. From 1980 to 1981, he was a law clerk to then-Associate Justice William Rehnquist on the Supreme Court.

From 1981 to 1982, Roberts was a Special Assistant to U.S. Attorney General William French Smith, under President Ronald Reagan—at the U.S. Department of Justice. In 1982, Roberts became the Associate Counsel to the President, and held this post until 1986.

Roberts entered private practice in 1986 as an associate at the Washington, D.C.-based Hogan & Hartson law firm, but left to serve under George H.W. Bush in the Department of Justice from 1989 to 1993 as Principal Deputy Solicitor General. In this capacity, he argued about 39 cases before the Supreme Court, winning 25.

In 1992, Roberts was nominated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, but was opposed by Democrats and never received a vote. Roberts returned to Hogan & Harston as a partner in 1993 after Bush was defeated by Bill Clinton in the 1992 presidential election.

Roberts was renominated to the Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia by President George W. Bush on January 7, 2003, to replace James L. Buckley. He was confirmed by the U.S. Senate by Voice Vote on May 8 and received commission on June 2, 2003.

On July 19, 2005, Roberts was nominated by President George W. Bush to replace Sandra Day O'Connor as an Associate Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court, who retired pending the confirmation of a replacement on July 1.

Roberts is currently a member of the Federalist Society, the American Law Institute, the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers, the Edward Coke Appellate American Inn of Court, and the National Legal Center for the Public Interest. He serves on the Federal Appellate Rules Advisory Committee.

Political and judicial views

Abortion

In a brief before the Supreme Court Rust v. Sullivan, 500 U.S. 173, (1991), Roberts, in his capacity as Deputy Solicitor General, contributed to a brief which said:

"We continue to believe that was wrongly decided and should be overruled. As more fully explained in our briefs, filed as amicus curiae, in Hodgson v. Minnesota, 110 S. Ct. 2926 (1990); Webster v. Reproductive Health Services, 109 S. Ct. 3040 (1989); Thornburgh v. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, 476 U.S. 747 (1986); and City of Akron v. Akron Center for Reproductive Health, 462 U.S. 416 (1983), the Court's conclusions in Roe that there is a fundamental right to an abortion and that government has no compelling interest in protecting prenatal human life throughout pregnancy find no support in the text, structure, or history of the Constitution."

In 2003, during his confirmation hearing, Roberts said, "Roe v. Wade is the settled law of the land...There is nothing in my personal views that would prevent me from fully and faithfully applying that precedent."

It is likely that Roberts's own opinion on abortion and birth control will be questioned during his confirmation hearings before the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary.

Enviromental regulation

Roberts has often, both in his public and private work, taken a position against government environmental regulation. Roberts argued against the private citizen's right to sue the federal government for violations of environmental regulations in Lujan v. National Wildlife Federation.

Roberts has also argued on behalf of the National Mining Association in support of the legality of mountaintop removal, in the case Bragg v. West Virginia Coal Association.

Sources

News articles

• "Appellate judge Roberts is Bush high-court pick." MSNBC. July 19, 2005.
• Barbash, Fred, et al. "Bush to Nominate Judge John G. Roberts Jr." Washington Post. July 19, 2005.
• Bumuller, Elisabeth, and David Stout. "President Chooses Conservative Judge as Nominee to Court." New York Times. July 19, 2005.
• Entous, Adam. "Bush picks conservative Roberts for Supreme Court." Reuters. July 19, 2005.
• McFeatters, Ann. "John G. Roberts Jr. is Bush choice for Supreme Court." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. July 19, 2005.
• Riechmann, Deb. "Federal judge Roberts is Bush's choice." Associated Press. July 20, 2005.
• "Who Is John G. Roberts Jr.?" ABC News. July 19, 2005.

Government

• "Roberts, John G., Jr." Federal Judicial Center.
• "John G. Roberts biography." Office of Legal Policy, U.S. Department of Justice.

Other

• "John G. Roberts federal campaign contributions." Newsmeat.com.
• "John G. Roberts Jr." DKosopedia.
• "Report of the Alliance for Justice: Opposition to the Confirmation of John G. Roberts to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit." Alliance for Justice. (PDF file)

• Current events
• Judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit
• Roman Catholics
• 1955 births